NASA Orbiter Discovers LADEE Moon Probe Crash Crater

October 29, 2014 8:49 PM

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Earlier in 2014, after completing its mission, the NASA LADEE moon orbiter was intentionally crashed into the lunar surface. Now, several months later, the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was sent to take photographs of the LADEE probe final resting place, on the moon’s far side. A small crater is all that remains.

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, LADEE, was launched in September of 2013 and spent 7 months orbiting the moon’s equator. Its mission: to study the lunar exosphere and the role that lunar dust plays in this thin lunar atmosphere.